At Night, Everything Is Different
by frangipani blossom
Summary: So Rapunzel finally got reunited with her parents, she had found her love and everything was just great. But at night things are different...
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys, this is my first _Tangled_ story. I hope you like it**** :)**

**P.S.: I do not own Tangled.**

**At Night, Everything Is Different**

Chapter 1: A Nightmare

So Rapunzel finally got reunited with her parents, she had found her love and everything was just great. But at night things are different...

It was already late night but Rapunzel wasn't sleeping. She didn't want to sleep, afraid of the nightmares that would hound her as soon as she was closing her eyes. And she didn't want that to happen, so she struggled with herself. But minute for minute passed by and her eyelids got heavier and heavier and were closing slowly and...

She was in the tower again.

Eugene was laying on the floor, pale-faced and blood dripping from his wound. And Rapunzel was begging her moth- Gothel:"Just let me heal him and you and I will be together- just like you want! Everything will be the way it was. I promise! - Just let me heal him!"

Gothel finally gave in and after she had chained Eugene's hand to a pillar, Rapunzel crawled towards him, trying to heal him. But with his last ounce of strength Eugene cut off her hair and became unconscious.

Rapunzel's chopped off hair turned brown but, surprisingly, Gothel wasn't aging... and she was now dragging Rapunzel off Eugene. "Well, obviously he didn't want you to heal him... come now!"

"No, no, no, Eugene!" Rapunzel cried, clinging to his lifeless body. Rapunzel's tears were running down her cheeks and dripping on Eugene ... and nothing happened.

Rapunzel shook her head in disbelief and desperation: "No, it can't be ... Eugene, please don't leave me, please ..."

But Gothel was still dragging Rapunzel off Eugene and started shaking her by the shoulders now.

"Rapunzel, come with me!"

"No!"

"Rapunzel..."

"No!"

Suddenly Gothel's voice was changing...

"Rapunzel... Rapunzel!"

"No, leave me alone!"

Now the voice sounded very different from Gothel's but still familiar...

"Rapunzel! Rapunzel, wake up!"

Rapunzel's eyes flung open and she stared into the face of-

"Eugene!" She threw her arms around him, buried her head in his chest and started sobbing:

"I had an awful nightmare...I was in the tower again...and you cut off my hair and mot- Gothel didn't age... and and you died...and I cried... but nothing happened...and then...-"

"Shh, everything is alright," Eugene whispered, rubbing her back soothingly. And soon Rapunzel calmed down.

"I'm so glad you're here," she sniffed, wiping her tears away.

Then realization struck her.

"Wait, what are you doing here?" she asked, suddenly aware that she was in the castle... in her bedroom.

"I heard you shouting my name and that you were crying..." Eugene explained, stroking her cheek gently.

"Was I shouting that loud? Do you think I woke up my parents?" Rapunzel asked alarmed, raising her head abruptly.

"I don't think so... I was standing right in front of your door and I couldn't hear you that clearly..." Eugene calmed her.

"Oh, good..." Rapunzel sighed relieved, then suddenly noticing," you were standing right in front of my door? Why?"

"I didn't know that it was yours... I was just wandering around..."

"Why?" Rapunzel wanted to know.

"Well, you're not the only one who has trouble sleeping..." Eugene responded vaguely.

"You have nightmares, too?" she asked sympathetically.

"Not exactly."

"You can't sleep?" Rapunzel suggested.

"It's like the opposite," Eugene laughed dryly.

"Now I'm confused," she admitted.

"Well, it's rather that I **don't** want to sleep," he explained.

"But why?"

Eugene shifted uncomfortably but then told Rapunzel hesitantly:"Let me put it that way... the last time I closed my eyes they weren't supposed to open again..."

Rapunzel let out a sympathetic "Oh Eugene!" and then embraced him again; this time it was her comforting him.

"It's alright", Eugene reassured her firmly. "I just... don't want to sleep right now," he admitted.

"Me neither," Rapunzel nodded. Her expression darkened with worry but then lit up.

"We could stop each other from sleeping!" she suggested excitedly.

"I don't know... I should be in my room anyway," Eugene objected.

"Oh please, stay here..." Rapunzel pouted.

"Fine, I'll stay," he agreed, sighing in defeat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reading and reviewing this story :)**

**I wish you a merry Christmas!  
**

Chapter 2: At Night...

"Well, what are we going to do now?" Eugene asked, after he had sat down on the end of the bed, leaning against a pillar of Rapunzel's bed, facing her.

"How about you telling me a story? I would like to know more about your childhood... if you want to..." Rapunzel suggested.

"My childhood wasn't really exciting, you know?"

"Well, I'm sure it was more exciting than mine," Rapunzel replied.

"Let's make a deal. I'm going to tell you about my childhood and you're going to tell me about yours," Eugene offered.

Rapunzel thought for a second or two and then agreed:" Fine, but you'll start."

"I will. But tell me if I bore you."

"You won't," Rapunzel responded.

"We'll see. Alright, I'll start now: As you know, I had lived in an orphanage. I was three years old when my mother got very ill and died. My father had left my mother before I was born and I had no relatives to go to, so I was sent to the orphanage. It was carried on by an elderly couple, Mr and Mrs Hampington. They were very kind people but they were too busy to get hold of enough money for all of us children, so they hadn't much time for us and practically, we were on our own. I don't remember much of my first year there, but I guess that they weren't exactly overjoyed that there was another hungry child to feed, what meant less food for the others. But I never got into their way, so they left me in peace. However, there was something quite remarkable: at day everyone was responsible for himself, but as soon as it became night and we had to go to bed, the oldest ones would tell the others a bedtime story and we all sat together and listened. It was a really harmonic atmosphere. At night everybody looked for everyone.

Sometimes, when it was dark and we were supposed to sleep, you would hear someone crying silently to himself and at day nobody would have cared. But at night, someone other would climb out of his bed and comfort him.

-You think I'm talking gibberish, don't you?" Eugene asked, looking at Rapunzel embarrassed.

Rapunzel, who had been engrossed with his story, shook her head confused:" No, not at all. I think that it is interesting. And it's true."

"-What is true?"

"At night, everything is different", she told him, cuddling into her pillows and then she looked at him expectantly.

"Why are you staring at me like that?", Eugene wanted to know.

"I wait for you to go on", she replied simply.

"Eh- okay," Eugene said startled, then he continued:

"Well, the years passed by and then I also belonged to the oldest ones. It may not be my nature to brag", Rapunzel rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless," but I'm actually very proud to be able to say that all of the orphans enjoyed my stories more than the ones that were told by the others."

"-Did you tell them the stories of Flynnegan Rider?" Rapunzel interrupted curiously.

"At first, yeah," Eugen nodded," but after I had told them every single story that I had read, I started making up my own stories. And every time I imagined myself as the hero; I guess, the others did so, too. Maybe that's why they liked my stories so much; they could see themselves as the hero.

And I had built my own fictional world: I'd been travelling around the world, and saw every place I wanted to see;other kingdoms, countries and even other continents. I could do whatever I wanted to do, no matter what it was: I was happy in my own little made-up world", Eugene sighed, indulging in reminiscences. But then his expression changed:" And just right when I had decided that this world was enough for me, even if the real world wasn't anything like that, my illusions were taken away from me: I turned sixteen."

"What's wrong about turning sixteen?" Rapunzel asked, confused.

"Well, when you turned sixteen, you had to leave the orphanage," Eugene explained," what meant leaving the place that was the closest thing to home; you know what I mean?"

Rapunzel remembered what she had felt like when she had left the tower and nodded.

"Mr and Mrs Hampington always tried to get an apprentice ship for the one who had to leave, but when I left, there weren't any available. So I was standing there, without an apprentice ship, without a home, without a family. I had nothing. That was when I decided to leave Eugene Fitzherbert behind me and become Flynn Rider, a young man who hadn't got anything to lose, but everything to win."

Rapunzel waited for more but realized that the story was finished.

"That was a good story. Sad, but interesting. And you'd said that your childhood was boring", she said, winking at Eugene, who felt relieved because he had never told his history anyone before and therefore he had never realized how good it would feel to get this off his chest. He had never thought that it had been such a burden. But now, he felt kind of free, actually.

"It's your turn now," he pointed out expectantly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy new year to all of you and here is the next chapter!**

**Sorry that it took me so long but I hope you enjoy it :)  
**

Chapter 3: Night-time Romance

"Alright," Rapunzel nodded, "but don't expect it to be as interesting as yours."

"- You lived eighteen years in a tower. Sounds interesting to me," Eugene replied.

"We'll see if you are still going to think that way when I will have finished telling you about my childhood."

"We'll see," Eugene agreed, motioning Rapunzel to go on.

"Well, I lived my whole life in a tower. The end," she said, shrugging.

"Come on, you didn't even try!"

"What do you want me to say? There isn't anything worth telling," Rapunzel replied.

"Oh yeah? I would like to know what you were doing the whole time," Eugene responded, truly interested.

"I were doing various things to entertain myself, like painting-"

"And you're really good at it," Eugene added, smiling at her encouraging.

Rapunzel blushed:" You think so?"

"Absolutely," he nodded.

After he had said that, Rapunzel suddenly flung her arms around his neck.

"What is that for?" Eugene asked, surprised by her reaction.

"It's just- you're the first one to commend me," Rapunzel said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You mean – Gothel had never -?" Eugene stuttered, taken aback.

"No." Rapunzel shook her head.

Eugene embraced her tight, then let her go and caressed her cheek.

"That means that she had never told you how wonderful you are?" he asked in disbelief.

"I am wonderful?" Rapunzel looked at him wide-eyed.

"Of course you are! You are not only the most beautiful girl I've ever seen-"

"I'm beautiful?" she asked, completely surprised.

"Oh, you are. You have these wonderful expressive eyes and no matter what color your hair has, you look beautiful, but what is even more important is your wonderful personality; your kindness and cleverness. You're the most curious person I've ever met – and that's a good thing," he added, after he saw her looking embarrassed.

"You are so full of energy and life; it's impossible to stay untouched by your spirit. And although you had never known any other humans than Gothel and she had told you terrifying stories about the people, you've always seen the good in them; you even trusted a thief.

And that's a trait of your personality I do not only love but I'm also very grateful for. Because of your trust in me our whole journey started and made me fall in love with you," Eugene finished, smiling at her tenderly.

After he had said that, Rapunzel looked at him with watery eyes.

Then she bent forward and kissed him like she'd never kissed him before; it wasn't that carefully anymore but full of her gratitude and love for him.

When they parted, Rapunzel smiled shyly at him: "I'm also grateful that I've trusted you from the very beginning."

"I can see that," Eugene grinned mischievously, winking at her.

Rapunzel giggled, her cheeks turning light pink.

Then her expression became more serious, she inhaled deeply and took Eugene's hand:" I want to tell you what living in a tower for eighteen years was like..."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys, here's the next chapter.**

**I'm sorry that it took me so long. I hope you enjoy it anyway :)  
**

Chapter 4: Paint The Night With Stars

"You get easily bored when you're locked up in a tower for that long time. But when I was little, Moth- Gothel lived with me in the tower and she would play games with me or tell me stories and once in a week she would sit down on the armchair and motion me to sit down in front of her on the stool and then she would brush my hair and sing, well, you know the song-"

"What song?"

"The Healing Incantation: Flower gleam and glow, let your your power shine..." Rapunzel trailed off.

"Oh that one," Eugene nodded.

"Yes. And when I grew older, I did other activities to entertain myself like painting, knitting or doing puzzles. I also had three books that I read over and over again. I learned how to play chess and how to play the guitar-"

"You can play the guitar?" Eugene asked, surprised.

Rapunzel nodded:" Yeah. It's fun."

Eugene looked around her room: "But you don't have one here."

"No. My guitar is in the tower."

"You could ask your parents for a new one," Eugene suggested.

Rapunzel shook her head:" No. I don't want to ask them. They already gave me the paint," she pointed at some pots in the corner of her room.

"And? That doesn't mean that you can't have a guitar", Eugene replied, confused.

"But they already gave me the paint as a gift," Rapunzel repeated," and I don't want them to think of me as greedy."

Eugene had to stifle a laugh. "You're the last person I would expect to be greedy. And I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind giving you a guitar as a gift."

"But that would be way too much", Rapunzel objected.

"It's your birthday."

Remembering that it was already past midnight, Rapunzel disagreed: "Not anymore."

"Well, then see it as gifts for the birthdays they missed."

"But they don't have to-"

"It's not because they have to, but because they **want** to," Eugene cut her off.

"Huh?"

"They want you to be happy -"

"But that doesn't mean they have to give me so much," Rapunzel interrupted.

Eugene ignored her comment and continued: "And they want you to feel like you're at home."

"Oh"

He went on explaining: "That is why they would give you everything you want, especially if it is something you had in the tower. They don't want to take your earlier life away from you. They just want to be part of your life now. So it's alright if you're asking for something; you're not just a guest here. You're their daughter."

"Oh, I understand. But-"

"Please, no more buts!"Eugene sighed in desperation.

"But I don't want a new guitar. I liked my old one."

"Even better! They don't need to buy you a new one-"

"But-"

"What have I told you about 'buts'?"

"No more 'buts'?" Rapunzel said questioningly.

"Exactly. I'm sure there won't be a problem with riding to the tower and bringing your guitar back."

"Not?"

"Of course not. You need to stop worrying"

"If you think so," Rapunzel mumbled.

"I do," Eugene replied.

"Alright. Now, where was I?" Rapunzel asked, suddenly aware that she had been distracted," Oh, what I was doing the whole time, right? I also did pottery or papier-mâché, well, everything that had to do something with art; Oh and I did a bit ballet; but the longer my hair was the harder it was to practice properly," Rapunzel said, remembering when she tangled herself in her hair while practicing.

"But every activity I had to do on my own, when Mo- Gothel wasn't in the mood to play together with me. Sometimes I felt really lonely and wished to have a friend. But M-Gothel had also told me many stories about how cruel and mean people were and everything coming from the dangerous world outside my tower was bad," Rapunzel sighed sadly.

Eugene took her hand and squeezed it soothingly. Rapunzel smiled.

Then she continued:" And never something from the outside reached me until I met Pascal."

"What about the lanterns?" Eugene interrupted.

"They were just visual reaching me," Rapunzel said," Pascal was the first to reach me in person. That was another best day- but not the best day ever," she quickly added, after seeing Eugene opening his mouth again to interrupt her.

"The best day ever was of course when I met you," Rapunzel smiled.

Eugene smiled back.

"So, what was meeting Pascal for the first time like? When I met him he stuck his tongue into my ear. I hope your meeting was more pleasant,"Eugene said, eyeing the chameleon that was sleeping on a pillow suspiciously.

"Well, it went a bit differently than your first encounter..."Rapunzel admitted.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi! Here's the next chapter. I'm sorry that it took me so long but I had troble picking a title for this chapter ;) I hope you like it! **

Chapter 5: Changing Colors

"When Pascal and I met I was fifteen years old. Since I had turned fifteen M- Gothel had moved out, so that I had more room for myself. My hair was also finally long enough that she could climb it and I could pull her up. Before, Mo- Gothel had to climb up a rough rope that made her hands hurt when she left the tower in order to get something we didn't have there.

When she had moved out, running the household was added to the many activities I did to prevent myself from getting bored.

So one morning, while being alone, I cleaned the tower. I was busy dusting the windowsill, when I heard someone sneezing. Surprised, I noticed that the sneezing was coming from the duster. Or, to be exact, from **underneath** the duster. And when I bent down to look closely, I saw a little light brown something, bouncing every time it sneezed."

Eugene grinned:" And what did you do?"

"At first I was frightened," Rapunzel admitted.

"I made a little jump backwards. And so did Pascal", she added, smiling.

"Why did he jump?" Eugene asked surprised.

"He was afraid of my reaction," Rapunzel explained," and when I had realized that – I laughed."

"You laughed?" Eugene repeated in disbelief.

Rapunzel nodded, a broad smile on her lips:" The whole situation was hilarious. I mean come on,-just imagine a girl of fifteen years filled with fear because of an animal of the size of a fist. Pascal was only afraid because I had been freaking out. When I realized how the situation looked like I couldn't help but laugh. And I haven't told you the funniest thing yet."

"And that would be?"

"Pascal started laughing, too."

Eugene looked at Rapunzel like she'd lost her mind:" He laughed, too?"

She nodded again, amused by his reaction now.

"And while laughing he changed into a sunny yellow. First I was startled by this but then I just found him adorable."

"Adorable!"

Rapunzel confirmed the question lightly:"Of course. He looked so cute. Yellow really suits him, you know?"

Eugene just shook his head, not believing what he was hearing.

Rapunzel smiled and then continued:" When I was done laughing, I slowly stepped closer and looked at him carefully. To assure me that it was alright that I was looking at him, Pascal smiled at me and chirped encouraging. After I had examined him I asked him to stay where he was and-"

"You **asked** him to stay where he was?", Eugene interrupted.

"Sure," Rapunzel shrugged," why not?"

"Ehm- doesn't matter," Eugene waved aside, wondering why he had even bothered asking her.

"Well, after I had asked him I went to my book shelf and took my encyclopedia. Then I walked back to Pascal and started thumbing through my book. In there were a lot of illustrations of animals and I was trying to find out what kind of animal he was. But no illustration matched the yellow creature in front of me. Disappointed, I put the book down on the windowsill next to Pascal. Trying to lighten my mood, he changed into a beautiful violet. Then it suddenly hit me – most likely yellow wasn't his original color! Eagerly, I flipped the book open and scanned the pages again. Interested, Pascal looked at the pages, too. When I came to the letter 'C', he squeaked in excitement and pointed to a little illustration in the corner of the currently opened page. I looked at the picture and saw a little green creature but except for the color it looked identical to Pascal. Excited I read 'chameleon' below the illustration.

'You're a chameleon, aren't you?' I cried out exhilarated.

Pascal nodded in agreement.

Well, as you can probably imagine, I instantly started babbling, like how I'd never seen a chameleon before and stuff like that."

Eugene grinned. Yep, he could picture that scene pretty easily.

Rapunzel went on:"But during talking, I suddenly realized that I'd never introduced myself properly. And so I told Pascal that my name was Rapunzel."

"Why did you name him Pascal, after all?" Eugene asked suddenly.

Rapunzel shook her head:" I didn't name him Pascal. He told me."

"He told you? How-? I mean, he can't talk after all and you can't tell me that you understood his weird chirping when you met him, right?"Eugene replied unsure.

"Of course not," Rapunzel responded," but after I had said my name he hopped off the windowsill and climbed up the counter in the kitchen. Then he knocked over a box filled with flour. At first, I was a bit annoyed at that but then Pascal started drawing lines in the flour. Confused, I stepped closer and finally saw that he was writing something: P-A-S-C-A-L."

"He wrote his name?" Eugene said, completely baffled.

Rapunzel nodded.

Eugene stared at Pascal, wondering if he might had underestimated the little 'frog' .

Rapunzel smiled at his reaction:" You didn't expect him to that clever, hm?"

"Not really," Eugene admitted.

"I was quite surprised, too. But overall, I was just happy to have finally met someone from the world outside- even if it wasn't a human.

The whole morning Pascal and I spent time playing various games; His favorite game was hide-and-seek, of course. At first, it took me longer than a hour to find him. The whole morning we didn't do anything else than just playing. It was just so nice to finally have someone to share my hobbies with, to do something **together**. I simply had the time of my life," Rapunzel smiled, her cheeks burning with excitement.

But when she started to continue, her face fell a little:"Right when I had found Pascal on the stair-rail, I heard Mot- Gothel calling me. Hastily, I faced Pascal and asked him if he wanted to stay for a while. Well, deep inside I wished that he would stay forever but we didn't know each other well yet, so I didn't want to ask him that. To my pleasure, Pascal nodded. I told him to stay silent and not to move. I hurried to the window and let my hair down after I had been called again, this time less patiently. When Mo- Gothel was in the tower, she scolded me why it had taken me so long to pull her up, but while talking, she suddenly stopped and looked wide-eyed at the whole room. Confused, I looked, too and was shocked: the whole place was a total mess! I hadn't cleaned up anything, even the flour was still poured out but, fortunately, Pascal's name wasn't readable anymore.

'What happened here, Rapunzel?' M- Gothel asked sternly.

'I'm sorry! I- I- I just overslept,' I apologized.

Mot- Gothel's face softened:' Oh, alright, my flower. Just clean it up later, okay?'

I nodded hastily. She patted my head placably.

'Now, dear, would you please sing for Mommy?' she asked me.

Posthaste, I slid the armchair and the stool closer to her and sat down quickly. As soon as she had started brushing my hair I began to sing the incantation. When I was done, I turned around, facing Mo- Gothel and asked her if I could have a pet.

'Rapunzel, you don't know what you're talking about,' she replied,'Pets aren't any different from the dangerous animals I told you about.'

'But what if there is an animal that isn't dangerous?' I wanted to know.

'There is **no** animal that is **not** dangerous." Was the response.

'But-'

'No, Rapunzel, we're through with this topic,' she hissed warningly.

'But-'

'NO BUTS!' she shouted angrily, making me cringe.

Noticing my reaction, she lowered her voice:' Oh, I'm sorry my dear. Mommy is just trying to protect you. I know, it's hard to believe but out there,'-she pointed to the window-'is not a single good-natured creature.'

Disappointed that she hadn't heard me out, I just nodded halfheartedly.

'Well... how about I'm getting us the missing ingredients and I'm cooking your favorite, hazelnut soup?' she said, trying to cheer me up.

'That would be ... great,' I replied, just wanting her to leave me alone for some time.

'Alright, then I will come to see you later, my flower,' she said, walking to the windowsill.

After I had let her down, I made my way to Pascal who had watched the whole scene motionless.

'I'm sorry that you had to see that,' I apologized.

Pascal looked at me sadly.

'I guess that means that you're not allowed to stay...' I nearly cried.

Pascal patted my hand consoling. When he did so, I decided to do something that I'd never done before: disobeying.

'You know, what Mother doesn't know, she can't disapprove...' I mused, looking at him.

Pascal grinned at me and turned yellow again.

'You just have to hide when Mother is here, alright? But that is surely no problem for you,' I smiled and petted him carefully.

Pascal closed his eyes in contentment and nodded.

And this is the story of how Pascal and I became friends."


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's the next chapter! Wow, when I'm ill, I write much faster ;)**

Chapter 6: Nocturne Confession

"So when you snuck out of the tower with me as your guide, it wasn't the first time you disobeyed," Eugene noticed.

"Well, technically you're right. But hiding a little chameleon is not a big deal compared to leaving your home without permission,"Rapunzel pointed out.

"You've got a point," Eugene admitted.

Both stayed silent for a while.

Finally, Rapunzel broke the silence:"So, what are we going to do next? Talking about something else? Playing a game? Reading something? Oh, I also could start painting the walls now, though the light might not be the best... Or maybe stretching, I'm quite stiff from lying the whole time..."

"Ehm, Rapunzel?" Eugene interrupted the babbling.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think that you should at least try to sleep again? You look really tired and it's pretty late," Eugene added and just like to prove his point, the clock chimed 3 times.

"Psh, I'm not tired!" Rapunzel protested but apparently, she was trying hard to stifle a yawn.

"Rapunzel, you look exhausted; you really should give it a try," Eugene objected, placing his hand gently on her cheek.

Rapunzel nestled up against his palm, her eyes barely opened , murmuring:" I can't let myself sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I'm back in that tower and you're dying again..."

A single tear escaped her eyes.

Eugene gently wiped it away with his thumb: "And I'm still here. And, if you like, I stay here ,so in case you have that nightmare again, I can wake you up and you can see that I haven't left you. Because I will never, ever, leave you again."

Rapunzel smiled at his words:" Good. Because I don't want you to leave me ever again."

Now Eugene smiled, too:" How could I refuse a request from the lovable princess of Corona?"

Noticing Rapunzel's wearily eyes, he added:" Alright, so I'll stay here. And you really should go to sleep now."

Rapunzel only nodded, already dozing off. Eugene smiled and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. For a while, he was just watching Rapunzel sleeping peacefully.

But soon, her moves got more abrupt and hectic and she started grimacing in pain. A muffled "Eugene" escaped her lips.

Eugene stand up and knelt next to her. He grabbed her hand and rubbed it comforting. Then he whispered calming into her ear:" Shsh, it's okay. I'm here. Everything is alright."

Right after hearing his words, Rapunzel relaxed and she smiled.

Eugene looked at her smiling. When he tried to return back to his place on the end of the bed, he was held back. Surprised, he turned around to see that Rapunzel didn't let go of his hand. Sighing, he sat down on the floor, leaning his back on the wall. While he was trying to get a half-way comfortable position, Rapunzel suddenly started mumbling. Mostly, he couldn't understand a word she said, but suddenly he heard her saying his name and something else articulately.

Taken aback, he listened attentively and then he could hear what Rapunzel had whispered:

"Eugene, I love you."

Suddenly, Eugene didn't found his position so uncomfortable anymore.

Fondly, he whispered back: "I love you, too."

Smiling, he also went to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it :)**

Chapter 7 : Escaping Through The Window

The sun was just rising and the first rays of sunlight were falling through Rapunzel's window and tickling Pascal's nose. Wearily, the little chameleon opened his eyes. When Pascal was stretching out with relish, he heard someone snoring lightly. Confused, the little reptile turned around, looking in the direction where the snoring came from and spotted Eugene who was still sitting on the floor, his fingers entwined with Rapunzel's. An evil smile crept across Pascal's face. Hastily, the chameleon hopped off the bed and crawled onto Eugene's shoulder. To make sure that Eugene was still sleeping, Pascal poked him carefully with his tail. Eugene didn't move. Grinning, Pascal opened his mouth and -

"Ahh!" Eugene woke up with a jolt, his eyes opened wide. When he realized what had happened, he looked annoyed.

"Why can't you just stop doing that?" He glared at Pascal who was only snickering.

Before Eugene could scold the little chameleon further, he suddenly heard footsteps coming closer. Aware how the situation would look like if he was seen, Eugene stood up quickly. At first, he thought of simply leaving through the door, but then he realized that the footsteps were already too close and he would be seen. Frantically, his eyes wandered around Rapunzel's room, searching for another way out -

and they remained at the window.

Without thinking twice, Eugene rushed to the window and opened it with trembling fingers. Hastily he climbed out of the room onto the roof.

* * *

Right when Eugene had been out of the visual range of Rapunzel's window the door opened and a maid stepped in to wake the sleeping princess. When she did, Rapunzel was surprised not to see Eugene by her side.

"I hope you slept well, your highness," the maid said, smiling kindly.

"Oh yes, I slept very well, thank you," Rapunzel smiled back, wondering if Eugene really had been here or if she just had dreamt that.

"I'm glad to hear that," the maid replied politely, noticing that the window was ajar.

"Did you open the window, your highness?" the maid asked, pointing towards it.

"Not that I remember..." Rapunzel trailed off but then realized that Eugene must have opened it – so it had not been a dream!

Happy that her memories of last night were real, Rapunzel started smiling from ear to ear

* * *

At the same time, Eugene was still on the roof, trying to find another opened window to finally get back into the palace.

"Oh man, didn't anyone else leave the window open?" he muttered to himself desperately.

Eugene felt quite uncomfortable climbing the roof. Not because of the height no, he wasn't afraid of heights in the slightest -

but the last time he had been up there he had stolen the crown of the lost princess -well, Rapunzel. And that brought back unpleasant memories from his past as Flynn Rider – yeah, he already saw Flynn Rider as his past.

But now, on the roof, he couldn't really say that he was relaxed. So he tried hard to find an opened window- and finally saw one. Unfortunately, it was the window of the kitchen, so it was unlikely to get in there unseen.

'But that's certainly better than staying outside until someone sees me,' Eugene thought and climbed back into the building with a fluid motion.

There was a big hustle and bustle in the kitchen that made Eugene hope that nobody had seen him getting in there.

But, of course, he wasn't lucky.

All that he noticed was someone shouting "Flynn Rider!" and that something hard was banged onto his head.

Then, everything turned black.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Misunderstanding

When Eugene finally regained his consciousness and opened his eyes slowly, his head hurt like hell. But, strangely, the pain was somewhat familiar.

His eyes needed some time to adjust themselves to the bright light but when Eugene wasn't seeing blurry anymore, he could see that he was surrounded by the kitchen staff. And they were armed with all kinds of kitchen utensils like knives, meat cleavers and Eugene even saw a kitchen boy holding a frying pan-

"You beat me with a frying pan!" he accused the kitchen boy.

The kitchen boy backed off, frightened by Eugene's reaction.

"You were lucky, that I haven't struck you down," a man like a closet told Eugene, waving with his meat cleaver angrily.

"Alright, I was just saying..." Eugene trailed off, lifting his hands in defeat.

"So, what do you want to steal this time, Rider?" the closet asked, his eyes narrowed.

"You know, it's kind of funny," Eugene said chattily," the one time I get caught is exactly the time when I'm not trying to steal something."

"Do I look like I would believe you, Rider?" The closet didn't looked convinced at all.

By and by Eugene felt uncomfortable being called by his fake name.

"News don't seem to spread fast here," he mumbled to himself.

"What do you mean?" The closet had an accurate ear.

"Well, I guess you know that the lost princess isn't lost anymore?" Eugene got impatient now.

"Of course!" the closet said. The rest of the kitchen staff murmured affirmatively.

"Good. And now guess who has brought her back home?"

The closet just shrugged with his shoulders.

Eugene let out a desperate sigh.

"Okay, I will give you a tip," Eugene said slowly, then pointed at himself with his forefingers hectically.

"You? I'm not falling for that," the closet droned deridingly.

"Do I look that stupid?" the closet added.

"Well, now that you're asking..." Eugene stopped, remembering that that guy had a meat cleaver after all.

"Are you calling me stupid?" the closet roared, stepping closer angrily.

"How about you guys just looking for the princess and then she can affirm my story or not?", Eugene suggested, changing the topic hastily.

"If she doesn't know me, you can turn me in," Eugene added, he was sure that idea appealed to the closet.

"You've got a point, Rider," the closet admitted.

"Steve!"the closet barked, making a wispy boy flinch.

"Yes, Sir?"the kitchen boy whispered intimidated, clutching the frying pan.

"Go, search for the princess! Then we're gonna see if that thief is telling the truth," the closet instructed.

"Yes, Sir," the boy, Steve, whispered and hurried out of the kitchen.

Eugene felt sympathy for the boy. It was already unpleasant for him to be in the same room with the closet for a few minutes but that boy had to work for that guy... wait! That boy had banged a frying pan on his head! Why did Eugene sympathize with everyone who banged a frying pan on his head?

"You seem to be very confident that the princess knows you," the closet mused.

"Well, maybe because I know her? I mean, I found her in that tower, we made a trip to Corona, saw the lanterns together and then..." Eugene listed but was interrupted by a confused Rapunzel:

"Eugene? What are you doing here?"

"Your highness!" the closet exclaimed, bowing low.

Then he pointed at Eugene: "He said, that you know him!"

"Well, of course I know Eugene," Rapunzel said, still confused," he saved me and brought me back to my family."

"Oh." Was all the closet said.

"Could you please put the meat cleaver away?" Eugene asked, now slightly amused.

"Oh sure, sure..." the closet muttered, putting it away quickly. Behind the closet stood Steve, trying to stifle a grin.

Eugene grinned back then, took Rapunzel's hand and led her out of the kitchen.

"Well, it was really nice to meet you guys but I have to attend a delicious breakfast with the princess here, so bye," he said, waving good-bye to the closet who just stood there dumbfounded.

* * *

As soon as Rapunzel and Eugene had left the kitchen, Eugene let out a relieved sigh.

"Why were you in the kitchen? And why did that big guy threatened you with a meat cleaver?" Rapunzel asked.

Eugene grinned sheepishly:" Well, I left your room through the window because I had heard someone coming and when I was on the roof I looked for an opened window to get back in. The only window that was open was the one of the kitchen and so I got in there. But unfortunately, that boy, Steve, saw me and banged a frying pan on my head because everybody thought that I was going to steal something. Then when I was conscious again I told them that I didn't want to steal anything and that you knew me. They didn't believe me and so I made them getting you to the kitchen so that you could tell them that I know you."

Rapunzel looked at Eugene in disbelief:"You were knocked unconscious with a frying pan?"

"Yeah," Eugene nodded," ironic, right?"

"And why would you get into the kitchen to steal something?" Rapunzel asked confused.

"Ehm, well," Eugene stuttered embarrassed,"I had stolen some croissants from there before."

"What?"

"You know, you get here the most amazing breakfast in whole Corona. I couldn't resist," Eugene said, looking at the floor in embarrassment.

Rapunzel smiled:" Well, you will get the best breakfast in Corona legal, now."

Surprised by her words, Eugene lifted his head. She wasn't angry with him?

Rapunzel still smiled and took his hand:" Now, hurry. Before my parents start having breakfast without us."

Then she hurried to the dinner room, dragging a dumbfounded Eugene with her.

* * *

At the same time, in the kitchen, the closet suddenly stand still:"Why did she call Rider 'Eugene'?"

**END**

**So, this is the end. I hope you enjoyed it and I want to thank you for your reading this story til the end. I also want to thank you for the nice reviews I received from you; they made me really happy :D**


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